Health & Medicine

Alpacas are prey animals with a strong instinct to conceal weakness. Combined with their dense fleece — which hides weight loss, skin conditions, and injuries — this makes them uniquely easy to miss early signs of illness. The single most important skill an alpaca keeper can develop is the habit of looking: close, careful, daily observation of every animal in the herd.

Why alpacas hide illness

In the wild, an animal that shows weakness attracts predators. The alpaca's evolutionary inheritance from the vicuña — an open-country prey species — is a strong disposition to behave normally even when seriously unwell. By the time an alpaca is visibly listless, off its feed, or lying down at unusual times, the underlying problem is often advanced. The corollary is that subtle changes — a slightly slower walk, a preference for the back of the shed, reduced humming, a half-chewed pile of hay left behind — matter enormously. A daily five-minute walk through the herd, watching rather than counting, is worth more than any monthly scheduled check.

Normal vital signs

Respiratory rate in particular is a sensitive early indicator. An adult alpaca breathing at 40+ per minute in cool weather is either heat-stressed, in pain, or seriously ill. Learn what normal looks like by watching healthy animals.

Body condition scoring

A body condition score (BCS) on a 1 to 5 scale, assessed by feel along the spine, is the most important routine health metric. The fleece hides everything visually; the hand does not.

• BCS 1 — Emaciated. Spine and ribs sharply prominent. Immediate intervention needed.
• BCS 2 — Thin. Spine easily felt as a ridge. Requires feed or parasite assessment.
• BCS 3 — Ideal. Spine felt but not prominent. Small muscle padding on either side.
• BCS 4 — Overweight. Spine difficult to feel. Muscle pad broad. Consider reducing concentrates.
• BCS 5 — Obese. Spine cannot be located. Significant health risk.

Score every animal monthly. Score pregnant females, young crias, and older animals (10+ years) every two weeks.

Internal parasites

Gastrointestinal parasites are the single most common cause of illness in alpacas worldwide, and the leading cause of death in herds kept outside their native altitude range.

The principal worms

• Haemonchus contortus — the barber's pole worm. A blood-feeding stomach worm that causes anemia, pale gums, and bottle jaw. Devastating in warm, wet climates.
• Trichostrongylus, Teladorsagia and other nematodes — cause weight loss, scour, and general unthriftiness.
• Fasciola hepatica (liver fluke) — picked up in wet pastures with snails as intermediate host; causes chronic weight loss and sudden death.
• Coccidia — protozoa affecting primarily young crias, causing diarrhea and stunted growth.

Parasite management

The old model of routine calendar deworming is no longer recommended — it has driven widespread drug resistance. The current best practice is targeted selective treatment: fecal egg counts done regularly, with anthelmintic treatment reserved for animals that actually need it. A modest investment in a microscope and some training allows a farm to do its own faecal counts.

Pasture management is equally important: rotation, removal of droppings where feasible, and keeping stocking rates reasonable all reduce parasite pressure far more effectively than any drug.

Meningeal worm

Parelaphostrongylus tenuis is a parasite of white-tailed deer that is harmless in its natural host but catastrophic when it infects alpacas — it migrates into the spinal cord and brain, causing progressive hind-end weakness, paralysis, and death. It is a problem specifically in North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Prevention involves fencing out deer where possible, monthly prophylactic ivermectin in high-risk regions, and vigilance. Alpacas in the Andean native range do not face this risk.

External parasites

Mites, lice, and ticks all affect alpacas. Mite infestations (particularly Chorioptes) are common and cause scabby, crusted skin especially on the lower legs, belly, and around the face. Lice affect the fleece and cause restlessness and fiber damage. Both are treated with topical or injectable parasiticides — but always on veterinary advice, because several commonly used sheep/cattle drugs are either ineffective or unsafe in camelids.

Ticks transmit several diseases; in tick-heavy regions, regular inspection and appropriate acaricides are essential.

Vaccination schedule

The one essential vaccine in nearly every alpaca herd is a clostridial vaccine protecting against enterotoxemia (overeating disease) and tetanus. A typical schedule:

• Crias: first dose at 8 weeks, booster at 12 weeks.
• Adults: annual booster.
• Pregnant females: booster 4 to 6 weeks before birthing to transfer antibodies to the cria through colostrum.

Additional vaccines — rabies, leptospirosis, West Nile virus, blackleg — are used where regionally indicated. Alpaca-specific vaccines are limited; many camelid vaccinations use off-label adaptations of sheep or cattle products. Always use the dose and protocol your vet specifies for camelids, not the label dose.

Common illnesses

Ulcers

The first stomach compartment (C1) is prone to ulcers in stressed, off-feed, or overgrain-fed alpacas. Signs are subtle: reduced appetite, grinding teeth, dark tarry manure. Treatment involves acid suppressants and, crucially, identifying the underlying stressor.

Pneumonia

Respiratory disease, particularly in crias and elderly animals, strikes fast. Look for raised respiratory rate, discharge from nostrils, reduced activity. Early antibiotic treatment is usually curative; late treatment often is not.

Hypophosphatemia (rickets) in crias

Crias born in winter with little sunlight exposure can develop low phosphorus levels and bowed legs. Vitamin D injections prevent and treat this. In southern-hemisphere temperate regions (Chile, Argentina, southern Australia) this is routine; in the Andes at altitude it is rare.

Choke

An alpaca eating greedily — particularly commercial pellets — can occasionally lodge food in the esophagus. Signs include extended neck, drooling, and apparent distress. Mild cases resolve with massage; severe cases need veterinary attention immediately.

Toxicity

Common toxin exposures include overdose of copper (sheep mineral licks will poison alpacas — copper requirements are lower), ingestion of ornamental plants, moldy hay, and certain pasture weeds. Prevention is the cure.

Heat stress — the underestimated killer

More alpacas die of heat stress in temperate countries than of any native Andean disease. The animal evolved for cold thin air, not for humid 30 °C summers. The signs of heat stress are: elevated respiratory rate with open-mouthed breathing, drooling, reluctance to move, scrotal swelling (males), and collapse.

Prevention:

• Shear early, before sustained heat.
• Provide shade at all times — trees, three-sided sheds, shade cloth.
• Fans in barns during heat waves.
• Sprinklers or a daily belly-hose-down (never wet the full fleece — it traps heat).
• Salt and mineral availability (encourages water intake).
• Fresh water in multiple locations.

If an alpaca is already in heat stress: move to shade, hose belly and legs with cool water, apply cool wet towels to the groin, offer electrolyte water, and call a veterinarian. Heat stress is a medical emergency.

Cria-specific concerns

The first 24 hours of life are the highest-risk period in the alpaca lifecycle. A cria that does not stand within 30 minutes, nurse within 2 hours, and pass meconium within 12 hours needs intervention. Critical early concerns include:

• Failure of passive transfer — the cria did not absorb enough antibodies from the first colostrum. A blood test at 24 hours confirms. Plasma transfusion treats.
• Prematurity — crias born before day 320 of an 11-month gestation often need intensive nursing.
• Hypothermia — wet crias in cold weather cool rapidly. Dry and warm within minutes of birth.
• Navel infection — dip the umbilicus in iodine at birth.

For more on reproduction and birthing, see the reproduction chapter.

When to call the vet

Some situations are emergencies. Do not wait for office hours. Call immediately if an alpaca is:

• Down and unable to stand
• Not eating for more than 12 hours
• Straining (ewe in labor with no progress after 30 minutes; male straining to urinate)
• Breathing open-mouthed
• Bleeding significantly
• Showing neurological signs — head tilt, circling, weakness in hindquarters
• Severely bloated
• A cria not standing or nursing in the first few hours

Alpacas decline fast once they decline. The keeper who calls too early is embarrassed for half an hour; the keeper who calls too late loses the animal.

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